According to a latest poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
